Nevada gaming revenues fell for the second straight month during February, although a $1 billion month and a less than 1 percent drop was not an immediate cause for alarm.
The Gaming Control Board said Thursday that statewide gaming revenues were $1.011 billion, down less than 1 percent compared to $1.017 billion a year ago. However, 2019 is not getting off to a great start. Gaming revenues fell 3 percent in January, to $984.5 million.
Las Vegas Strip gaming revenues were down 1.95 percent in February to $591.7 million, while Reno declined 7.68 percent to $44.3 million.
Despite the gaming revenue decline, visitation to Las Vegas grew almost 2 percent in February, to 3.189 million visitors, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli told investors the timing and staggering of the Super Bowl, New Year’s Eve, and Chinese New Year had hurt Las Vegas gaming revenues.
“(The schedule) had a negative impact on high end patronage in the period,” Santarelli said.
Other areas of the state had steeper drops in February. The two Lake Tahoe markets both averaged a 25 percent drop in gaming revenues.
However, downtown and the Las Vegas locals markets all experienced substantial revenue increases in February. Downtown revenues were up 9 percent, North Las Vegas grew 5.25 percent, the Boulder Strip – which includes the Las Vegas suburban community of Henderson – 3.51 percent and the balance of Clark County was up 8.6 percent.
Stifel gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski told investors the locals market has been a bright spot for Nevada gaming numbers.
“We continue to believe that strength in the local Vegas economy positions the Las Vegas locals segment to produce outsized gross gaming revenue growth, as compared to the U.S. regional average,” Wieczynski told investors.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
